One word comes to mind for Iranian-Canadian Farimehr Hakemzadeh as she reflects on the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran that led to the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
“Hope,” she says. “The Iranian people have been waging this battle for a long time. For over half a century they have lived in fear, enduring imprisonment, torture and execution.”
Hakemzadeh, a human rights activist, left Iran in 2014 in search of greater freedom. She has lived in Winnipeg for almost 10 years but still has family and friends back home.
“Today people in Iran are celebrating and dancing because they know that peace was not possible as long as the Islamic regime is in power,” Hakemzadeh said.
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Fellow Iranian-Canadian Allan Wise, who also lives in Winnipeg, says this weekend’s killing was the right decision.
“I don’t use that or take it lightly, it’s a comparable comparison to the assassination of Hitler,” Wise said.
In the days since the attack, there has been devastation across the Middle East.
“The United States and Israel attacked Iran without any armed attack by Iran on these countries. There is no legal basis under the UN Charter for this attack launched by Israel and the United States,” said Nathan Derejkom, assistant professor of law at the University of Manitoba.
Derejkom is also the Mauro Chair in Human Rights and Social Justice at the university. He says that since the unlawful attack on Iran, the regime can now use its own force in accordance with the UN Charter.
“The devastating impact this could have on civilians across the region should be at the forefront of our need to truly bring an end to military operations,” Derejko said.
For now, Iranian Canadians remain optimistic about a brighter future in the country they once called home.
“The end goal has to be regime change,” Wise said. “This is the only way Iran can assert itself again in the international community.”
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